Bilingual Education

As teachers, we are advocates for the students. We are NOT blind followers to the status-quo which for too long has been to turn a blind eye to the specific needs of our bilingual population.

The first bilingual program in this country was established in 1839, yet we still can not agree on central goals for our district’s bilingual program. The lack of a central goal is not only obstructing the success of the students, but in the long term hindering the quality of life of the community in which we are serving. In accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, non-English dominant students are entitled to special help in public schools. Placing a group of bilingual students in a classroom with a non-bilingual teacher or simply immersing them in the English language is not providing the special help to which they are entitled. The Bilingual Education Act of 1968 provides schools with federal funding for students with limited English speaking proficiency. As a district, we must unite administration, teachers, and parents to provide the proper education for our growing bilingual population.

Bilingual committee goals (involving parents)

1. To develop a bilingual mission statement: I have had parents tell me that they want their English-dominate students in bilingual education so that they can improve their Spanish. This is simply not where the need lies in our district. There needs to be aligned procedures and policies (which work with the LPAC committee) to choose which students should be in the program and to determine the educational goals for those students.

2. To strive for education policies which are aligned with current research: The current “sink or swim” English immersion protocol in our district has shown to be wholly ineffective in multiple research studies. As a district including teachers, parents, and administrations, we need to agree on a research supported streamlined bilingual education program with the success of the student in mind. (i.e. Dual Language, Early Exit Bilingual, Transitional Bilingual, Structured English Immersion)

3. To fight for equal class sizes: It is unfair that bilingual students are consistently in larger classes with larger student counts, when research shows they are a population that requires more frequent intervention, more attention, and more small group work.

4. To develop a fair testing procedure: The class size issue is a result of the top-down desire for students to become quickly stream-lined to the English language for testing purposes. This is inevitably not best for the students, but what is best for the district’s accounts books. Education needs to be student-centered for students to be successful.

Community Gardens Bloom Opportunity

I got out and dug in the dirt this weekend. I weeded and prepared a couple of beds, started cleaning up trash (there is still mounds of up), and cleaned out and old potting shed. I am trying to start up our school garden again, which has been inactive for several years. Just today I have had both parents from the church next door and the school stop by asking when the plots will be available. I share this only to demonstrate that the people in this area are SO eager to do well by their families and their community.
Even though this community is fairly rural, it still technically lies within city lines. Consequently, they have no representation for the specific needs of their region within the legal or political sphere; even though there needs are staggeringly different from those in the metropolitan area of the city. The school is usually the only the channel many of these families have to be heard.
When I speak to parents on the subject of school food, most say they are dissatisfied with the school food, but are also unable to fulfill all the nutritional needs for their family given the lack of access to fresh food, lack of education, and lack of economic means to overcome these obstacles. Considering all these obstacles, most of them do not complain about the free and reduced breakfast and lunch. However, the first question they ask about a community garden is if the produce will be served in the cafeteria. The status quo is low quality, high fats, high preservative, prepackaged, and ships a couple of thousand miles, just the way the food service corporation likes it. There is so much potential for mobilization here.
The food service provider contracted with our school work with two main clients: schools and jails. I am quite sure they will not give up half of their business in schools easily. If we could divert a percentage of the budget from going to a big company for food services and instead directed that money into the community, it would greatly benefit the quality of life of our residents and students. Funding for a small scale project such as this would satisfy the parents, be better for the students, and benefit the entire community. On a larger scale, if there was money to stimulate local businesses (I know there are poultry and egg farms nearby) the benefits would be multiplied indefinitely for community moral, economic opportunity, and a more stable sense of home for many students who feel caught between two worlds.